1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braille display device for blind people and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a braille display device in which braille pins are vertically moved by an electric field using an electrorheological fluid phenomenon, so that visible information is expressed in the form of raised dots which blind people can feel with their tactile senses, and a method for manufacturing the same.
The present invention has been produced from the work supported by the IT R&D program of MIC (Ministry of Information and Communication)/IITA (Institute for Information Technology Advancement) [2005-S070-02, Flexible Display] in Korea.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A typical braille display device is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 2000-38125. Hereinafter, a conventional braille display device is described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional braille display device, and FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the conventional braille display device of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional braille display device 100 comprises a base body 110, a plurality of braille pins 120, a plurality of electromagnets 130, a coil 135, and a cover 140.
A plurality of reception grooves 112 are formed in an upper portion of the base body 110 with a predetermined arrangement, and the braille pins 120 are installed in the reception grooves 112 and move vertically in the reception grooves 112. The electromagnet 130 wound by the coil 135 for pushing an upper portion of the braille pin 120 using a magnetic force is installed in the upper portion of each reception groove 112. The coil 135 winding the electromagnet 130 is supplied with an electric current through a power supply control portion 150. The cover 140 is installed on a surface of the base body 110 so that the upper portion of the braille pin 120 can protrude.
In the configuration of the conventional braille display device, the braille pin 120 is installed in the reception groove 112 of the base body 110 to move upward and downward, the electromagnet 130 wound by the coil 135 is installed in the upper portion of the reception groove 112 to be connected to the power supply control portion 150, and the base body 110 is covered with the cover 140. The braille pins 120 move upward or downward due to a magnetic force generated by the electromagnet 130 to thereby express various information in the form of raised dots which can be recognized by blind people.
However, the conventional braille display device is complicated in configuration since the electromagnet 130 wound by the coil 135 is installed in the upper portion of the reception groove 112, and thus it is not easy to manufacture and install, leading to low productivity. Also, due to noise occurring between the adjacent electromagnets 130 when the electromagnets 130 operate by an electrical signal of the power supply control portion 150, the braille pins 120 may operate abnormally.